High-throughput thin-film fabrication vacuum flange

ABSTRACT

A mechanism and methodology is provided for performing high-throughput thin-film experimentation with the use and integration of a heater. A single flange assembly contains an automated two-dimensional shutter system (which provides variable masking schemes for spatially selective shadow deposition) and a rotatable (indexed) chip/wafer/substrate heater. The automated two-dimensional shutter system comprises two shutter plate mounts that move in two perpendicular (x and y) directions, so that mounted shutters overlap with each other in certain regions. The substrate heater can be used in the gradient temperature mode or uniform temperature mode. The shutter plates and the heater plate are detachable and exchangeable from experiment to experiment in order to minimize cross contamination of materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for thedeposition, synthesis and screening of an array of diverse materials atknown locations on a single substrate surface. More specifically, theinvention is directed to a physical masking apparatus and methods forapplying films of materials to a substrate with deposition techniques,such as sputtering, laser deposition, ion beam, electron beam andthermal evaporation, spray coating and the like.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] The discovery of new materials with novel chemical and physicalproperties often leads to the development of new and usefultechnologies. Currently, there is extensive research in the discoveryand optimization of materials, such as superconductors, zeolites,magnetic materials, phosphors, nonlinear optical materials,thermoelectric materials, high and low dielectric materials and thelike. Unfortunately, even though the chemistry of extended solids hasexpanded, few general principles have emerged that allow one to predictwith certainty the composition, structure and reaction pathways for thesynthesis of such solid state compounds.

[0005] The preparation of new materials with novel chemical and physicalproperties is not easily predicted or controlled. Consequently, thediscovery of new materials depends largely on the ability to synthesizeand analyze new compounds. Given approximately 100 elements in theperiodic table which can be used to make compositions consisting ofthree, four, five, six or more elements, the universe of possible newcompounds remains largely unexplored. As such, there exists a need inthe art for a more efficient, economical and systematic approach for thesynthesis of novel materials and for the screening of such materials foruseful properties.

[0006] One of the processes whereby nature produces molecules havingnovel functions involves the generation of large collections (libraries)of molecules and the systematic screening of those collections formolecules having a desired property. This notion of generating andscreening large libraries of molecules has recently been applied to thedrug discovery process.

[0007] Methods have been developed for the synthesis and screening oflarge libraries of peptides, oligonucleotides and other small molecules.Some methods involve functionalizing the termini of polymeric rods andsequentially immersing the termini in solutions of individual aminoacids. In addition, techniques have recently been introduced forsynthesizing large arrays of different peptides and other polymers onsolid surfaces.

[0008] Developing new materials often requires combinatorial depositionof thin-films onto substrates wherein the precise chemical composition,concentrations, stoichiometries and thicknesses of the deposited filmsis known. To this end, it would be beneficial to construct apparatus andmethodology to produce arrays of materials with varying composition,concentrations, stoichiometries and thickness on known locations on asubstrate so that the materials can be readily synthesized and analyzed.

[0009] Vacuum flanges are basic constituents of thin-film fabricationequipment. Typically, fabrication equipment will have a number offlanges mounted, and each one carries/provides a device that performs aspecific task. However, these conventional multi-flange arrangements,which have individual flanges to perform a task, tend to be veryexpensive and cumbersome.

[0010] The need therefore exists for a single vacuum flange adapted toperform different types of spatially selective thin film fabrication ona substrate at variable temperatures, whereby the necessary shuttersystem is incorporated into the single vacuum flange.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention provides an apparatus and methodology forthe preparation of a substrate having an array of diverse materials inpredefined regions thereon. A substrate having an array of diversematerials is prepared by depositing components of target materials ontopredefined regions on the substrate to form at least two resultingmaterials. In particular, the present invention provides physicalmasking systems and methods for applying components onto a substrate ina combinatorial fashion, thus creating arrays of resulting materialsthat differ slightly in composition, stoichiometry, and/or thickness.Moreover, using the novel masking systems of the present invention,components of target materials can be delivered to each site in auniform distribution, or in a gradient of stoichiometries, thicknesses,compositions, etc. Resulting materials which can be prepared using themethods and apparatus of the present invention include, for example,covalent network solids, ionic solids and molecular solids. Onceprepared, these resulting materials can be screened in parallel foruseful properties including, for example, electrical, thermal,mechanical, morphological, optical, magnetic, chemical and otherproperties.

[0012] The apparatus of this invention greatly facilitates thin filmexperimentation by integrating all the necessary components in a singlevacuum flange to perform different types of spatially selective thinfilm fabrication (on a given chip or a wafer) at variable temperatures.

[0013] In particular, the flange of this invention contains an automatedtwo-dimensional shutter system (which provides variable masking schemesfor spatially selective shadow deposition) and a rotatable (indexed)chip/wafer/substrate heater. The automated two-dimensional shuttersystem comprises two overlapping shutter plate mounts that move in twoperpendicular (x and y) directions, so that the mounted shutters overlapwith each other in certain regions. The shutter plates, pedestal and themodular heater assembly are detachable and exchangeable from experimentto experiment in order to minimize cross contamination of materials.

[0014] Spatially selective fabrication is achieved by shadow depositiontechnique, where thin film materials being fabricated with a mask over asubstrate will only be deposited on the substrate in the region ofopening in the mask. The shutters provide the masks. Different apertureshapes or opening patterns can be cut into the shutters in order tocreate different layout designs for series of shadow depositions andthus, different designs of combinatorial libraries and compositionspreads.

[0015] The substrate heater of the flange also contains a gradienttemperature mechanism so that different parts of a mounted substrate canbe heated to different temperatures at the same time. The integratedheater assembly allows fabrication of thin film samples at differenttemperatures in a single experiment on a given chip. The heater assemblyis of great importance in thin film fabrication experiments in generalbecause deposition temperature often plays a crucial role in determiningthe physical property of a material. Thus, deposition temperature isanother important parameter that one would like to be able to vary in ahigh throughput manner.

[0016] There are different mechanisms that can be used to create thegradient temperature across the heater plate. This invention should notbe limited to any specific mechanisms for achieving the gradienttemperature. This invention pertains to a mechanism and methodology forperforming high-throughput thin-film experimentation with the use andintegration of a heater. The substrate heater can be used in thegradient temperature mode or uniform temperature mode. Having thegradient temperature capability together with the automated shuttermechanism incorporated into a single vacuum flange significantlyenhances the flexibility and widens the scope of experiments that can beperformed with the flange.

[0017] The flange can be, for example, 6″ in its outer diameter, and itis, thus, compact and portable. This flange can be placed in any type ofthin film fabrication equipment having a 6″ or larger port to “convert”the equipment into high-throughput thin film fabrication equipment.Different types of thin film fabrication equipment to which the flangecan be incorporated into include pulsed laser deposition, magnetronsputtering, ion beam sputtering, thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporationand chemical vapor deposition.

[0018] One advantage of the present invention is that the physical masksystem provides precise control over the location and amount of eachcomponent deposited onto the selected regions of the substrate. Thisenables arrays of components with slightly varying composition,concentrations, stoichiometries and thicknesses to be deposited ontoknown locations on the substrate so that the resulting materials can bereadily synthesized and analyzed. In addition, the present invention hasthe ability to create tens, hundreds or thousands of different maskingpatterns in front of a substrate. This facilitates the building ofcombinatorial libraries containing many different resulting materialsonto the substrate, with each resulting material comprising a knowncombination of different components. Since the resulting materials aredeposited at known locations on the substrate, they can be readilyscreened and compared with each other for performance and/or usefulproperties.

[0019] Using this shutter-mask system, a particular geometric shape,such as a rectangle or square of resulting material, can be preciselydeposited onto the substrate by moving the opposing pairs of shutters.Rows and columns of components can also be deposited on a substrate bymoving one set of opposite shutters while holding the other setstationary.

[0020] In another configuration, the physical mask system includes oneor more shutter masks that can be translated at a constant or variablespeed across the substrate to provide composition, thickness orstoichiometry gradients on the substrate. Typically, each shutter maskwill be coupled to a suitable actuator drive, such as a solenoid,pneumatic drive or the like, and a control system for accuratelycontrolling the speed and location of the shutter mask. In thisembodiment, the system may also include other stationary masks or openmasks for providing step gradients and other thin film geometries on thesubstrate.

[0021] In the delivery systems of the present invention, thin-filmdeposition techniques are preferably used in combination with theaforementioned masking systems to deposit thin-films of the variouscomponents on predefined regions of the substrate. Such thin-filmdeposition techniques may include sputtering techniques, sprayingtechniques, laser deposition techniques, electron beam or thermalevaporation techniques, ion beam, ion implantation or doping techniques,chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques, as well as other techniquesused in the fabrication of integrated circuit devices. The componentscan be delivered as amorphous films, epitaxial films, or lattice andsuperlattice structures. Alternatively, the various components can bedeposited into the reaction regions of interest from a dispenser in theform of droplets or powder.

[0022] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of theinventions herein may be realized by reference to the remaining portionsof the specification and the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023]FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a pulse laser deposition (PLD)system and associated processing chamber.

[0024]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the singlevacuum flange incorporating the high throughput thin-film fabricationassembly of this invention with some detail removed for clarity.

[0025]FIG. 3 is a side view of the vacuum flange shown in FIG. 2.

[0026]FIGS. 4a and 4 b illustrate the substrate pedestal and heatercarriage assembly of the flange of FIG. 2.

[0027]FIG. 5 is a detail showing the shutter assembly of the flange ofFIG. 2.

[0028]FIG. 6 is a schematic of the high throughput thin film experimentchip.

[0029]FIG. 7 is an example of a combinatorial thin film librarydeposited with the invention.

[0030]FIG. 8a is a schematic of an in-situ deposited phase diagram chip.

[0031]FIG. 8b is a cross sectional deposition scheme to create the filmof FIG. 8a as seen in the direction of arrow ‘A’ of FIG. 8a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032]FIG. 1 illustrates a specific embodiment of a multi-target pulselaser deposition (PLD) system 100 according to the present invention.Pulse laser deposition involves the evaporation of molecules from thetarget to the substrate on the pedestal. In this embodiment, evaporationtakes place by hitting the target/source material with short pulses oflaser in the presence of a gas, for example, argon, oxygen, nitrogen,etc. As shown in FIG. 1, the PLD system 100 generally includes anenclosure assembly 110 housing a processing chamber under vacuum, atarget carousel flange 120, at least one substrate mounted on a pedestal27 having a substrate support surface for supporting one or moresubstrates thereon. As would be understood by those of skill in the art,PLD system 100 may further include a substrate load-lock chamber, aphysical mask chamber and a target chamber coupled to enclosure assembly110 for loading/unloading of substrates, physical masks and targets intoand out of processing chamber.

[0033] The target carousel flange 120 is preferably a multi-targetcarousel that allows one to evaporate one or more components separatelyonto a substrate.

[0034] Referring again to FIG. 1, PLD system 100 preferably includes amasking shutter system located in front of the substrate support surfacefor generating arrays of resulting materials on the substrate thatdiffer slightly in composition, thickness and stoichiometry. The maskingshutter system is uniquely configured as part of a single vacuum flangeas shown in FIGS. 2-5.

[0035] With reference to FIG. 2, the high throughput thin-film vacuumflange 10 has a main mounting vacuum flange member 20 to which ismounted motor drive systems, a masking shutter assembly and a substratepedestal/heater assembly. The motor drive systems include first andsecond shutter motors 30, 40 and a central chip/wafer/heater motor 50.The first and second shutter motors 30, 40 drive a linear motion offirst and second shutters 60, 70 in two perpendicular (x and y)directions as will be described in detail below. The centralchip/wafer/heater motor 50 provides controlled rotation of a centralheater housing 55 and substrate support surface 27 adjacent the centralheater housing 55 as will be described in detail below.

[0036] The first shutter motor 30 drives a first drive shaft 32 whichpasses through several support plates 24, 25, 26. The first drive shaft32 is drivingly connected to a first drive sprocket 34 that drive afirst drive chain 36. The first drive chain 36 causes the first shutter60 to translate in the direction of arrow ‘a’ in FIG. 2. The secondshutter motor 40 drives a second drive shaft 42 which passes through thesupport plates 24, 25, 26. The second drive shaft 42 is drivinglyconnected to a second drive sprocket 44 that drive a second drive chain46. The second drive chain 46 causes the second shutter 70 to translatein the direction of arrow ‘b’ in FIG. 2. The first and second drivechains 36, 46 also mate with a pair of idler sprockets 35, 45independently rotatable and disposed on the support plate 26. While thepreferred embodiment employs electric motors and chain drive systems forthe masking shutters, it will be understood by those of skill in the artthat numerous drive systems or belts may be employed without departingfrom the spirit and scope of this invention.

[0037] In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a flexible coupling33, 43 may be provided on the drive shafts 32, 42, 51 along thetransmission path between the motors 30, 40, 50.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 5, shutters 60, 70 are slidably coupled tomounting brackets 62, 72, which are each mounted to support plate 26.Typically, support plate 26 will be adjustably mounted to or madeintegral with the flange member 20. The flange member 20 is then mountedto an enclosure of a processing chamber (see FIG. 1). Shutter masks 60,70 will preferably be located relatively close to the substrate toensure that the components that pass through the opening defined by themasks 60, 70 will deposit onto the region of the substrate underlyingopening (i.e., without dispersing outward from this region). The openingis defined by an overlap of the slots 61, 71 formed in the shutter masks60, 70. Of course, the preferred distance between the shutter masks andthe substrate will vary widely based on the type of deposition that isused. Usually, the distance between the lower surfaces of shutter masks60, 70 and the substrate is about 0 to 2 mm, preferably about 1 micronmeter to 200 micron meters. In the representative embodiment, bothshutter masks 60, 70 may be independently translated relative to eachother.

[0039] The actuators, e.g., solenoids, can be driven to reciprocateshutter masks 60, 70 by a variety of conventional or non-conventionaldrive mechanisms, such as electromagnetic systems, pneumatic systems,linear drive, stepper motors or the like. The drive mechanisms may belocated either inside or outside of the vacuum chamber. Preferably, stepmotors drive the actuators. The shutter mask system of the presentinvention provides precise control over the location and amount of eachcomponent deposited onto selected regions of the substrate. In addition,the shutter masks allows many different (e.g., on the order of tens,hundreds or thousands) masking patterns to be rapidly changed duringprocessing to enable arrays of resulting materials with slightly varyingcomposition, concentrations, stoichiometries and thickness' to bedeposited onto known locations on the substrate. To that end, theactuators and drive mechanism are preferably equipped with positionfeedback mechanisms (i.e., encoders) of the type used in devices forsemiconductor device manufacturing and testing. Such mechanisms willpreferably be closed loop systems with insignificant backlash andhysteresis.

[0040] Preferably, shutter masks 60, 70 are flat, substantiallycontinuous physical masks with a single slot 61, 71 similar to the masksdescribed above in reference to FIG. 2. However, shutter system may alsoinclude a variety of physical masks having different sizes, shapes, andpatterned openings for delivering component(s) through the openings tothe substrate. As such, different aperture shapes or opening patternscan be cut into the shutters in order to create different layout designsfor series of shadow depositions and thus, different designs ofcombinatorial libraries and composition spreads.

[0041] The substrate pedestal and heater assembly is separatelyillustrated by FIGS. 4a and 4 b. The heater carriage assembly includesmounting plates 24, 25 separated by pillar posts 22. Rotatably mountedabove the mounting plate 25 is the heater housing 55, which housesheating elements 56. Pedestal 27 is disposed at the top side of theheater housing 55.

[0042] The heater housing 55 is rotatably mounted with respect to themounting plates 24, 25 and is driven by the central chip/wafer/heatermotor 50 through a series of drive gears 52, 53 a, 53 b, 54. The heatingelements 56 remain stationary. In the preferred embodiment shown inFIGS. 4a and 4 b, the heater motor 50 is mounted to drive a centraldrive shaft 51 which drives the first drive gear 52. First drive gear 52matingly engages bypass gears 53 a, 53 b mounted on side shaft 53 c. Thebypass gear 53 b matingly engages the heater housing gear 54 torotatably drive the heater housing 55 and pedestal 27. The heater andpedestal drive assembly is arranged to permit an electrical connectionwith the stationary heating elements 56 located within the heaterhousing 55 via wires 49 to supply necessary power to the heater elements56. The bypass gears 53 a, 53 b permit the heater housing to be mountedon a stationary heater mount through which electricity is transmitted tothe heater elements 56.

[0043] In additional to the rotational movement imparted to the heaterhousing 55 and pedestal 27 by the motor 50 and shaft 51, the modularheater assembly illustrated in FIGS. 4a and 4 b is adapted to translatein a linear direction defined by the shaft 51 along the pillar postextending between the flange 20 and the plate 26. Such linear movementis accomplished through linear movement of the shaft 51. Thisarrangement makes it possible to adjust the position of the heaterhousing 55 and pedestal 27 relative to the shutters 60, 70 and theassociated mask assembly.

[0044] Pedestal 27 is preferably made from a material having arelatively high thermal mass and good thermal conductivity to facilitatethe absorption of heat from the substrate resting on the supportsurface. Additionally, a protective cover assembly 28 may be disposedabove the pedestal 27. As shown in FIGS. 4a and 4 b, the heater carriageassembly includes a rotational drive coupled to pedestal 27 for rotatingthe heater housing and pedestal and the substrate relative to shuttermasks 60, 70. In an exemplary embodiment, the system will includethickness monitors (not shown) for measuring the thickness of thedeposited component on the substrate in situ. The thickness monitors mayprovide feedback to the processor to control the deposition rate.

[0045]FIG. 6 is a schematic of the high throughput thin film experimentchip, wherein the films were deposited in such a way so that in thevertical direction ‘y’ composition was varied and in the horizontaldirection ‘x’ deposition temperature was varied. Such an experiment andexperimental chip is highly instrumental in rapidly optimizing a thinfilm material.

[0046]FIG. 7 is an example of a combinatorial thin film librarydeposited with the high throughput flange of this invention where 16compositionally different thin films (see films f1 thruough f16) weredeposited at an elevated temperature on 16 different predeterminedpositions on the chip. Thus, FIG. 7 shows an example of a discretecombinatorial library.

[0047]FIG. 8a is a schematic of an in-situ deposited phase diagram chip,and FIG. 8b is a cross sectional deposition scheme to create the film ofFIG. 8a as seen in the direction of arrow ‘a’ of FIG. 8a. The depositionshown in FIGS. 8a and 8 b were carried out in an atomic layer-by-layermanner by repeating gradient depositions in three different directionswith three different target materials a, b, c. The deposited amount ofeach layer is less than that of a unit cell. After a set of threegradient depositions for a, b, and c, one unit cell is depositedepitaxially with appropriate composition spread across the chip. Thus,FIGS. 8a and 8 b shows a schematic of an in-situ fabricated phasediagram chip where an entire ternary phase diagram is mapped out on atriangular shaped chip. Such an experiment was not readily possible withexisting technology; however, it has been accomplished with the presentinvention.

[0048] From the foregoing, it is clear that the present inventionprovides methods and apparatus for depositing various components ontosubstrates to generate a diverse array of resulting materials inpredefined regions on the substrate. In particular, the presentinvention provides physical masking systems and methods for applyingcomponents onto a substrate in a combinatorial fashion, thus creatingarrays of resulting materials that differ slightly in composition,stoichiometry, and/or thickness. Resulting materials which can beprepared in accordance with the methods of the present inventioninclude, for example, covalent network solids, ionic solids andmolecular solids. More particularly, resulting materials which can beprepared in accordance with the methods of the present inventioninclude, but are not limited to, inorganic materials, intermetallicmaterials, metal alloys, ceramic materials, organic materials,organometallic materials, non-biological organic polymers, compositematerials (e.g., inorganic composites, organic composites, orcombinations thereof), or other materials which will be apparent tothose of skill in the art upon review of this disclosure.

[0049] From the foregoing description, the substrate heater of theflange also contains a gradient temperature mechanism so that differentparts of a mounted substrate can be heated to different temperatures atthe same time. The integrated heater assembly allows fabrication of thinfilm samples at different temperatures in a single experiment on a givenchip. The heater assembly is of great importance in thin filmfabrication experiments in general because deposition temperature oftenplays a crucial role in determining the physical property of a material.Thus, deposition temperature is another important parameter that onewould like to be able to vary in a high throughput manner.

[0050] There are different mechanisms that can be used to create thegradient temperature across the heater plate; therefore, this inventionshould not be limited to any specific mechanisms for achieving thegradient temperature. This invention pertains to a mechanism andmethodology for performing high-throughput thin-film experimentationwith the use and integration of a heater. The substrate heater can beused in the gradient temperature mode or uniform temperature mode.Having the gradient temperature capability together with the automatedshutter mechanism incorporated into a single vacuum flange significantlyenhances the flexibility and widens the scope of experiments that can beperformed with the flange.

[0051] The substrate having an array of resulting materials thereon willhave a variety of uses. For example, once prepared, the substrate can bescreened for resulting materials having useful properties, and/or theresulting materials can be ranked, or otherwise compared, for relativelyperformances with respect to useful properties or othercharacterizations. Accordingly, the array of resulting materials ispreferably synthesized on a single substrate. By synthesizing the arrayof resulting materials on a single substrate, screening the array forresulting materials having useful properties is more easily carried out.Properties which can be screened for include, for example, electrical,thermal mechanical, morphological, optical, magnetic, chemical, etc.More particularly, properties which can be tested include, for example,conductivity, super-conductivity, resistivity, thermal conductivity,anisotropy, hardness, crystallinity, optical transparency,magnetoresistance, permeability, frequency doubling, photoemission,coercivity, dielectric strength, or other useful properties which willbe apparent to those of skill in the art upon review of this disclosure.Importantly, the synthesizing and screening of a diverse array ofresulting materials enables new compositions with new physicalproperties to be identified. Any resulting material found to possess auseful property may be subsequently prepared on a large-scale. It willbe apparent to those of skill in the art that once useful resultingmaterials have been identified using the methods of the presentinvention, a variety of different methods can be used to prepare suchuseful materials on a large or bulk scale with essentially the samestructure and properties.

[0052] Generally, physical masking systems may be employed withdeposition techniques for applying components onto a substrate in acombinatorial fashion, thus creating arrays of resulting materials atknown locations on the substrate. The arrays of resulting materials willusually differ in composition, stoichiometry, and/or thickness acrossthe substrate. In addition, using the novel masking systems of thepresent invention, components can be delivered to each site in a uniformdistribution, or in a gradient of stoichiometries, thicknesses,compositions, etc. According to some of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the physical mask system and the substrate are independentlymovable relative to each other such that patterns of materials may begenerated on the substrate. In some embodiments, one or more shuttermasks are coupled to actuators or drives for translating, reciprocatingor rotating the shutter masks relative to the substrate. In otherembodiments, the pedestal is movable so that the substrate may berotated or translated relative to stationary or movable physical masks.Moving the mask relative to the substrate provides precise control overthe location and amount of each component deposited onto selectedregions of the substrate.

[0053] Specifically, one system of the present invention comprises ahousing defining a processing area with a pedestal with a substratesupport surface, and a delivery system for depositing one or morecomponents onto a substrate on the support surface of the pedestal. Aphysical mask system includes two shutter masks coupled to actuators ordrives that translate, reciprocate or rotate the shutter masks indirections substantially parallel to the substrate support surface. Inone embodiment, this system includes one or more shutter masks that canbe linearly translated across the substrate to provide composition,thickness or stoichiometry gradients on the substrate. In anotherembodiment, the physical masking system includes two pairs of opposingshutters located in different planes from each other. Each opposing pairof shutter masks is coupled to actuators or drives for reciprocating theshutter masks towards and away from each other. Using this shutter-masksystem, a rectangle or square of component(s) can be deposited onto asubstrate by moving the opposing pairs of shutters. Rows and columns ofcomponents can be deposited on a substrate by moving one set of oppositeshutters. The location of a particular geometric shape, for example arectangle, can be controlled using a motor, such as a step-motor, toposition the shutter masks.

[0054] Generally, films or layers of components can be deposited onto asubstrate using a variety of delivery techniques in combination with theaforementioned masking techniques of the present invention. For example,thin-film deposition techniques in combination with physical masking canbe used to deliver the various components to selected regions on thesubstrate. Thin film deposition, sputtering systems, sprayingtechniques, laser deposition techniques, electron beam or thermalevaporation, ion beam deposition, ion implantation or doping techniques,chemical vapor deposition (CVD), as well as other techniques used in thefabrication of integrated circuits and epitaxially grown materials canbe applied to deposit highly uniform layers of the various components onselected regions on the substrate. Such thin-film deposition techniquesare generally used in combination with masking techniques to ensure thatthe components are being delivered only to the predefined regions ofinterest on the substrate. These techniques can be used to applythin-films of materials onto a substrate in a combinatorial fashion,thus creating arrays of resulting materials that differ in composition,stoichiometry, and/or thickness.

[0055] In addition to being used in combination with traditional binaryand quaternary masking techniques, the X/Y shutter system can beadvantageously used in combination with other masking techniques. Forexample, the masking system may include a positioning system with x, y,z, and rotational movement capability, and a translation systemcomprised of masks contained on a strip of material that can be woundonto a roll such that the masks can be displayed in serial fashion byunwinding and winding said rolls. Alternatively, the X/Y shutter systemcan be used with the previously described method for generating maskingstrategies for experiments involving the use of distinct groups ofreaction components, wherein the members of each group are related insuch a way that it would not be desirable for them to interact with oneanother. The following sets forth an example of how this can be carriedout.

[0056] It will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art that theforegoing deposition techniques are intended to illustrate, and notrestrict, the ways in which the components can be deposited on thesubstrate. Other deposition techniques known to and used by those ofskill in the art can also be used. In addition, it should be noted that,while the instant disclosure would appear to imply that two-dimensionalarrays of resulting materials are formed on a substrate, the inventionis not limited to this configuration. For example, the novel depositionand masking techniques described herein may be used to formthree-dimensional arrays of resulting materials onto a substrate. In oneembodiment, these three dimensional arrays will comprise layers ofarrays, with each layer comprising different resulting materials thanthe adjacent layers. Each layer may have arrays of resulting materialswith different patterns. For example, an XYZ three-dimensional array mayinclude three different components that vary in one aspect, such asstoichiometry, with the concentration of each component changing alongone direction. In another embodiment, the substrate may comprise, forexample, a honeycomb structure that includes predefined regions in threedimensions, i.e., length, width and depth. Components may be depositedin layers into the honeycomb structure, or alternatively, intopredefined regions at different depths along the honeycomb structure.

[0057] While the foregoing invention has been shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those ofskill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

1. A shutter mask system for use in a substrate processing chamber, theshutter mask system comprising: a flange adapted for coupling a masksystem to the processing chamber; a pedestal for mounting said substraterelative to said processing chamber; at least two physical masks in saidmask system movably mounted to the flange and positioned to form atleast one opening to allow delivery of components through the openingonto said substrate on said pedestal; at least one drive for moving thephysical masks in one or more directions to vary at least one of a size,shape and position of the opening relative to the substrate and forgenerating in a combinatorial fashion an array of resulting materialshaving composition gradients on said substrate; a substrate heatersystem mounted on said flange adjacent said pedestal; and a controlsystem coupled to the drives for controlling movement of the physicalmasks during deposition and forming an array of resulting materials onthe substrate that differ in composition.
 2. The shutter mask systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said physical masks comprise aperturesformed therein to define said opening when said physical masks overlapone another.
 3. The shutter mask system according to claim 1, whereinsaid at least one drive is mounted to said flange.
 4. The shutter masksystem according to claim 1, wherein said pedestal is rotatably disposedon said flange.
 5. The shutter mask system according to claim 1, whereinthe physical masks define an automated two-dimensional shutter systemwhich provides variable masking schemes for spatially selective shadowdeposition.
 6. The shutter mask system according to claim 5, whereinsaid automated two-dimensional shutter system is comprised of twoshutter plates that move in two perpendicular directions so that shutterplates overlap with each other in certain regions.
 7. The shutter masksystem according to claim 1, wherein said pedestal is disposed on saidsubstrate heater system.
 8. The shutter mask system according to claim1, wherein the heater system comprises a gradient temperature mechanismso that different parts of said substrate can be heated to differenttemperatures at the same time.
 9. The shutter mask system according toclaim 1, wherein the heater system allows fabrication of thin filmsamples at different temperatures in a single experiment on a givenchip.
 10. The shutter mask system according to claim 1, wherein physicalmasks and the pedestal are detachable and exchangeable with respect tosaid flange from experiment to experiment in order to minimize crosscontamination of materials.
 11. A shutter mask system for use in asubstrate processing chamber, the shutter mask system comprising: apedestal for mounting said substrate relative to said processingchamber; a plurality of shutter plates movably mounted with respect tosaid pedestal and positioned to form at least one opening to allowdelivery of components through the opening onto said substrate on saidpedestal; at least one drive for moving the shutter plates in at leastone direction to vary at least one of a size, shape and position of theopening relative to the substrate and for generating in a combinatorialfashion an array of resulting materials having composition gradients onsaid substrate; and a rotatable substrate heater system mounted adjacentsaid pedestal, wherein said pedestal, said shutter plates, said at leastone drive and said heater system are integrated into a single modularassembly.
 12. The shutter mask system according to claim 11, furthercomprising a control system coupled to the drives for controllingmovement of the physical masks during deposition and forming an array ofresulting materials on the substrate that differ in composition.
 13. Theshutter mask system according to claim 11, wherein said shutter platescomprise apertures formed therein to define said opening when saidshutter plates overlap one another.
 14. The shutter mask systemaccording to claim 11, wherein said shutter plates, said pedestal, saidheater system and said at least one drive are adjustably mounted to avacuum flange.
 15. The shutter mask system according to claim 11,wherein the shutter plates define an automated two-dimensional shuttersystem which provides variable masking schemes for spatially selectiveshadow deposition.
 16. The shutter mask system according to claim 15,wherein said automated two-dimensional shutter system comprises twoshutter plates that move in two perpendicular directions so that shutterplates overlap with each other in certain regions.
 17. The shutter masksystem according to claim 11, wherein said pedestal is rotatablydisposed on said substrate heater system.
 18. The shutter mask systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the heater system comprises a gradienttemperature mechanism so that different parts of said substrate can beheated to different temperatures at the same time.
 19. The shutter masksystem according to claim 11, wherein the heater system allowsfabrication of thin film samples at different temperatures in a singleexperiment on a given chip.
 20. The shutter mask system according toclaim 11, wherein physical masks and the pedestal are detachable andexchangeable with respect to said flange from experiment to experimentin order to minimize cross contamination of materials.
 21. The shuttermask system according to claim 11, wherein the heater system is linearlyadjustable relative to the shutter plates.
 22. The shutter mask systemaccording to claim 11, heater system slides in a linear motion alongpillars extending between said at least one drive and said pedestal. 23.The shutter mask system according to claim 11, wherein linear androtational movement of said pedestal is accomplished through a singleshaft extending from said at least one drive.